County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson once described Frank Wing as “a background player in the ultimate sense of the word ‘player.'”

That quote, given to San Antonio Monthly in 1986, specifically described the workings of the defunct political machine known as the South Side Coalition. But it perfectly described Wing's political career.

Wing, who died this week, was the most powerful council member — not including mayors — yet to emerge in the era of single-member districts. He was a complicated politician, and his story wasn't always pretty — his roles in the city's contract with the police union and Henry Cisneros' troubles with the FBI over payments to cover up an extramarital affair come to mind.

But with Wing on City Council, there was never any doubt that serious people were conducting business amid the silliness that so often dominated City Hall.

The South Side councilman was an astute political mechanic, who wielded power behind the scenes but never seemed comfortable being out front on a big stage.

He came of age in the South Side Coalition, a group of politicians who cut their teeth as activists in the war on poverty and the Economic Development Opportunity Corp.

On the night he was first elected to City Council in 1977, the Express-News reported, Wing gave a prayer of thanks saying, “If this is a political machine, dear God, then this is what we need.”

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When asked about the machine and his campaign that night, Wing answered only after then-state Rep. Frank Tejeda, who took office earlier in 1977, whispered in his ear.

Wing and Tejeda were the undisputed leaders of the South Side Coalition. Frank Madla was the third Frank in the group, but he split with the coalition in 1986 when Adkisson and Tejeda faced off over a Texas Senate seat and Madla backed Adkisson.

Years before Wing became Cisneros' best friend, he and Tejeda were virtual brothers. They were the dominant political force on the South Side. They played a role in elections from school boards on up the ballot. When citywide and statewide campaigns needed South Side help, they went to Tejeda and Wing.

They played hard ball and took no prisoners.

Wing once slugged an opposition school board poll worker who was hassling one of his workers. “I told him if he didn't leave, I would punch him. After I hit him, I offered him a quarter to call the police,” Wing told San Antonio Monthly.

During his years at City Hall, Wing grew close to Cisneros and West Side businessman Frank Sepulveda. That new direction caused a split with Tejeda — a split that was detrimental to Wing's political ambitions. Tejeda blocked Wing's attempt to be appointed as county judge when incumbent Tom Vickers vacated the post in 1991. Wing made the mistake of plotting the move with his downtown friends instead of Tejeda.

When Tejeda died of cancer in 1997, Wing made plans to seek his old friend's congressional seat. Days before he planned to make it official, County Commissioner Robert Tejeda, Frank Tejeda's cousin who had become the family's political leader, announced he was supporting Juan Solis for the seat. Wing opted not to run.

Twenty years after the two Franks first tasted political victory, the South Side Coalition was shattered and Wing's political career was finished. But Wing's legacy as a skilled City Hall “player” who helped the South Side lives on.